Quicksilver collaborates with defense contractor

TEMECULA, Calif. — Quicksilver Aeronautics has produced more than 15,000 kit-built aircraft since the early 1970s, but so far it has not been a player in the U.S. defense community. Thanks to a collaboration with IDENT, LLC, that may be changing.

IDENT has submitted a proposal for support and expansion of U.S. border security, using a plane based on Quicksilver’s GT500 aircraft.

IDENT officials say they believe this proposal could “save taxpayers billions of dollars,” observed Richard McCreight, IDENT’s Chief of Operations. IDENT is a collaboration of technology companies based in Jacksonville, Fla.

“We are very pleased to work with such a top-flight technology company such as IDENT,” said Quicksilver Aeronautics President Will Escutia. “Our GT500 has proven itself over decades of reliable operation and it fits the need of government agencies trying to spend their budget dollars wisely.”

IDENT and its technology partners say they have designed a “MacGyver-type” — i.e., infinite scientific resourcefulness — airborne surveillance service to support the men and women who work to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

“By the nature of their hazardous duty, border personnel need the intelligence and protection of more ‘eyes in the sky’ to increase the probability of successful law enforcement,” observed McCreight.

Under the proposed plan, IDENT would provide the Department of Homeland Security a fleet of small, affordable aircraft based on Quicksilver’s GT500. “These will work in concert like a swarm of annoying, persistent mosquitoes,” added McCreight.

Controlled by DHS, these airborne agents provide an extended and mobile presence to disrupt and deny criminal border incursions while evolving and adapting to changing dynamics. IDENT calls their version of the GT500 the Mosquito.

Blending aircraft, voice, data and video elements, IDENT has identified and integrated each necessary component from available, low cost off-the-shelf technology. The system supports sustainable fleet aircraft operation detecting and reporting border breaches to authorities across hundreds of miles of border. The company calculates billions of taxpayers dollars can be saved by reducing direct and indirect costs through stemming the law enforcement and social service drain on national and state resources.

“The estimated $1.9 billion saved in Arizona for one year alone is enough to implement IDENT’s service for the entire 1,690 miles of the US/Mexico border for 10 years,” said McCreight, “providing much needed jobs for veterans and wounded warriors.”

Quicksilver Aeronautics, under new ownership since 2012, is the most prolific builder of light aircraft kits in the world, with more than 15,000 units flying. Quicksilver builds the MX series including the Sprint, Sprint II, Sport, Sport II, Sport 2S and the GT series including the single seat GT 400 and the two place GT 500. The GT 500 was the first aircraft approved by the FAA under the Primary Aircraft category in 1993. Quicksilver has dealers throughout the USA and the world with thousands flying in nearly 100 countries.